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Video: GOP: Obama’s spending freeze is a ‘small step’

Transcript of: GOP: Obama’s spending freeze is a ‘small step’

Good evening. I'm
Bob McDonnell
.
Eleven
days ago, I was honored to be sworn in as the 71st governor of
Virginia
. I'm standing in the historic
House Chamber
of
Virginia
's
Capitol
, a building designed by
Virginia
's second governor, Thomas Jefferson.

It's not easy to follow the president of the United States. And my 18-year-old twin boys have added pressure to me tonight by giving me exactly
10 minutes
to finish before they leave to go watch "
SportsCenter
."

I'm joined by fellow Virginians to share a Republican perspective on how to best address the challenges facing our nation today.

We were encouraged to hear
President Obama
speak this evening about the need to create jobs. All Americans should have the
opportunity
to find and keep meaningful work, and the dignity that comes with it.

Many -- many of us here tonight -- and many of you watching -- have family or friends who have lost their jobs. In fact, 1 in 10 Americans is unemployed. That is unacceptable.

Here in
Virginia
, we've faced our highest
unemployment rate
in more than 25 years, and bringing new jobs and more opportunities to our citizens is the top priority of my
administration
.

Good
government policy
should spur
economic growth
and strengthen the
private sector
's ability to create new jobs.

We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation so America can better compete with the world. What
government
should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the
middle class
.

It was Thomas Jefferson who called for "a wise and frugal
government
which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned." He was right.

Today, the federal
government
is simply trying to do too much. Last year, we were told that massive new federal spending would create more jobs immediately and hold unemployment below 8 percent.

In the past year, more than 3 million people have lost their jobs, and yet the Democratic
Congress
continues
deficit spending
, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the
national debt
on our children and our grandchildren.

The amount of debt is on pace to double in five years and triple in ten. The
federal debt
is now over $100,000 per household. This is simply unsustainable.

The president's partial freeze announced tonight on
discretionary spending
is a laudable step, but a small one. The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper limited role of
government
at every level.

Without reform, the excessive growth of
government
threatens our very liberty and our prosperity.

In recent months, the American people have made clear that they want
government
leaders to listen and then act on the issues most important to them. We want results, not rhetoric. We want cooperation, not partisanship.

There is much
common ground
. All Americans agree that we need health --
health care
system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality. But most Americans do not want to
turn over
the best
medical care
system in the world to the federal
government
.

Republicans
in
Congress
have offered legislation to reform
health care
, without shifting
Medicaid
costs to the states, without cutting
Medicare
, and without raising your taxes.

And we will do that by implementing commonsense reforms, like letting families and businesses buy
health insurance
policies across state lines and ending frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals that drive up the cost of your
health care
.

And our solutions aren't 1,000-page bills that no one has fully read, after being crafted behind closed doors with
special interests
. In fact, many of our proposals are available online at solutions.gop.gov, and we welcome your ideas on
Facebook
and
Twitter
.

All Americans agree that this nation must become more energy independent and secure. We are blessed here in America with vast
natural resources
, and we must use them all.

Here in
Virginia
, we have the
opportunity
to become the first state on the
East Coast
to explore for and produce oil and
natural gas
off-shore.

But this
administration
's policies are delaying off-shore production, hindering
nuclear energy
expansion, and seeking to impose job-killing cap-and-trade energy taxes. Now is the time to adopt innovative energy policies that create jobs and lower
energy prices
.

All Americans agree that a
young person
needs a world-class education to compete in the
global economy
. As a young kid, my dad told me, "Son, if you want a good job, you need a good education." Dad was right, and that's even more true today.

The president and I agree on expanding the number of high-quality
charter schools
and rewarding teachers for excellent performance. More school choices for parents and students mean more accountability and greater achievement.

A child's educational
opportunity
should be determined by her intellect and
work ethic
, not by her
ZIP Code
.

All Americans agree that we must maintain a strong
national defense
. The courage and success of our
armed forces
is allowing us to draw down troop levels in
Iraq
as that
government
is increasingly able to step up.

My oldest daughter,
Jeanine
, was an
Armyplatoon leader
in
Iraq
, so I am personally grateful for the service and sacrifice of all our men and women in uniform, and a grateful nation thanks them.

We applaud
President Obama
's decision to deploy 30,000 more troops to
Afghanistan
. We agree that victory there is imperative for
national security
.

But we have serious concerns over the recent steps the
administration
has taken regarding suspected terrorists. Americans were shocked on
Christmas Day
to learn of the attempted bombing of a flight to
Detroit
. This foreign terror suspect was given the same
legal rights
as a
U.S. citizen
and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence.

As Senator-elect
Scott Brown
has said, we should be spending taxpayer dollars to defeat terrorists, not to protect them.

Here at home,
government
must help foster a society in which all our people can use their God-given talents and liberty to pursue the great
American dream
.
Republicans
know that
government
cannot guarantee individual outcomes, but we strongly believe that it must guarantee equality of
opportunity
for all.

That
opportunity
exists best in a democracy which promotes
free enterprise
,
economic growth
, strong families, and individual achievement.

Many Americans are concerned about this
administration
's effort to exert greater control over car companies, banks, energy, and
health care
, but over-regulating employers won't create more employment, overtaxing investors won't foster more investment.

Top-down, one-size-fits-all decision-making should not replace the personal choices of
free people
in a
free market
, nor undermine the proper role of state and
local governments
in our system of federalism. As our founders clearly stated, and we governors clearly understand,
government
closest to the people governs best.

And no
government
program can ever replace the actions of caring Americans freely choosing to help one another. The
Scriptures
say, "To whom much is given, much will be required." As the most generous and prosperous nation on
Earth
, it is heartwarming to see Americans giving much time and money to the people of
Haiti
.

Thank you for your ongoing compassion.

Some people say they're afraid that America is no longer the great
land of promise
that she has always been. They should not be.

America will always blaze the trail of
opportunity
and prosperity. America will -- must always be a land where liberty and property are valued and respected and innocent
human life
is protected.

Government
should have this clear goal: Where
opportunity
is absent, we must create it. Where
opportunity
is limited, we must expand it. Where
opportunity
is unequal, we must make it open to everyone.

Our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to create this great nation. Now we should pledge as
Democrats
,
Republicans
and independents -- Americans all -- to work together to leave this nation an ever
better place
than we found it.

God bless you
, and God bless this great land of America. Thank you very much.

WASHINGTON — The nation cannot afford the spending Democrats have enacted or the tax increases they propose, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday in the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

McDonnell told a cheering crowd of supporters in Richmond, Va., that Democratic policies are resulting in an unsustainable level of debt. He said Americans want affordable health care, but they don't want the government to run it.

"Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much," McDonnell said. "In the past year, more than 3 million Americans have lost their jobs, yet the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren."

McDonnell said that all Americans want affordable, high-quality health care. But, he added, "Most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government."

McDonnell delivered the Republican response after Obama's speech Wednesday evening. National GOP leaders picked McDonnell as a symbol of their recent success at the polls: He was elected in a rout last fall in a state Obama and the Democrats swept in 2008.

GOP victories
Republicans are feeling emboldened following a string of GOP victories, including a stunning win by Republican Scott Brown last week in a special Senate election in Massachusetts.

But with State of the Union messages traditionally delivered at the end of January, Obama had one of the presidency's biggest platforms just a week after the Massachusetts vote.

Republicans applauded the president when he entered the House chamber Wednesday night and craned to welcome Michelle Obama.

But bipartisanship disappeared early, with Republicans sitting stone-faced through several rounds of emphatic Democratic cheering and Obama taking a sharp jab at GOP congressional strategy. "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership."

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, appointed by President George W. Bush, made a dismissive face and shook his head in disagreement as Obama said the court in a recent decision had "reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections."

Republicans complain that a $787 billion economic stimulus package enacted last year did not do enough to increase employment. And they oppose Obama's plan to let income tax cuts expire next year for families making more than $250,000 a year.

"This isn't about a pivot in terms of his message," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "I think that most Americans know that actions speak louder than words."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would be willing to work with Democrats if they pursue moderate policies.

"I'm hopeful the administration's new focus on the economy will lead it to say 'no' to more spending and debt, more bailouts and more government," McConnell said.

'Failed policies and broken promises'
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a statement on the RNC's Facebook site that "after a year of failed policies and broken promises" the President had shown "rhetorical flair in an attempt to sound populist, if not downright 'conservative,'" when taking about creating employment.

"Last year, he promised a 'New Era of Responsibility' and instead delivered the exact opposite. Now that he’s offering a 'New Foundation for Prosperity,' business owners and the unemployed alike have reasons to be worried.

"There is just no amount of spin and blame shifting that can hide the fact that tonight the President added more zeros to an already burdensome deficit with no explanation as to how he would pay for this 'new foundation.' As a good construction worker will tell you – foundations cost money."

Citing Republican success in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, Steele said "if the President is serious, he will give Republicans a seat at the table. If not, then we know that this is just more spin, arrogance and a refusal to listen to the American people."

'Wrong path to excessive spending'
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who famously shouted "You lie!" during the President's last speech to Congress, sat stonefaced for most of the the address and even rose to applaud at times.

Later he gave a live video response on Facebook to more than 350 viewers. The New York Times reported Wilson said: "What the president proposed tonight would not truly create jobs. He is persisting on the wrong path of excessive spending."

Wilson praised the President for the response to the Haiti earthquake and for supporting American troops, the paper said, but he called cap-and-trade legislation "a national energy tax" that "would kill jobs."

On the Democrat's plans for health care reform, Wilson said: "It almost sounded like everything for everyone for free. That’s not correct and it’s not truly in the interest of the American people."

Democrats countered that much of the nation's debt is a result of economic policies enacted when Republicans controlled the federal government. Obama said he had cut income taxes, rather than increasing them, since taking office a year ago.

"Gov. McDonnell is a quick study," said Brad Woodhouse, communications director for the Democratic National Committee. "It took less than two full weeks in office for Bob McDonnell to adopt the national Republican Party's partisan rhetoric and to learn and repeat one falsehood after another about the president and his plans for the country."

McDonnell's speech was staged to look like a smaller version of a State of the Union address. He spoke from the historic Virginia House of Delegates before an audience of about 300 friends, family, supporters and members of his administration. The audience cheered when McDonnell entered the chamber, and applauded throughout his 13-minute speech.

In his remarks, McDonnell cited several areas of agreement with the president. On education, he said he agrees with Obama's proposal to increase the number of charter schools.

On national defense, he said he agrees with Obama's plan send an additional 30,0000 troops to Afghanistan. McDonnell said his oldest daughter, Jeanine, was an Army platoon leader in Iraq.

However, McDonnell said, Republicans have "serious concerns" about the administration's treatment of suspected terrorists. He complained that a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plane as it approached Detroit on Christmas Day "was given the same legal rights as a U.S. citizen, and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence."

Some Republicans want suspected terrorists tried in military courts rather than civilian ones.

In a new twist for Republicans, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., taped a Spanish-language version of the Republican response carried by Spanish-language media.